1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an individual identification apparatus for confirming identities of individuals by using a pattern recognition technique.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, confirmation of identities of individuals is required in order to manage entrance and exit of individuals in and out of restricted areas and to prevent free access to important equipment. An individual identification apparatus has been proposed to identify each individual attempting access, and so under investigation, with a specific individual on record. The person under investigation will be referred to as an "arbitrary individual" hereinafter. Patterns of certain body portions, such as fingerprints, face patterns, retinal vascular patterns, palm prints, voice patterns, and DNA patterns are unique for each individual. Accordingly, the individual identification apparatus is designed to previously record a pattern of such a unique feature of a specific individual. This feature of the specific individual will be referred to as a reference pattern hereinafter. When desiring to identify an arbitrary individual with the specific individual, the device picks up a corresponding pattern of the arbitrary person. The pattern of the arbitrary person will be referred to as a target pattern hereinafter. Then, the individual identification apparatus compares the picked up target pattern with the recorded reference pattern.